Canadian Racing Wrap Sept. 13-20; 91st Canadian Derby Sunday

TOP WINNING BEYER SPEED FIGURES IN CANADA – SEPT 13 – 20

103 STARSHIP JUBILEE (turf)

95 COUNT AGAIN (turf)

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88 BLIND AMBITION (turf)

83 GRETZKY THE GREAT (turf

82 PREFERRED GUEST (turf)

82 BODE’S MAKER (turf)

Turf-heavy racing at Woodbine last week was headlined by the Woodbine Mile (G1) and the pair of 2-year-old, Grade 1’s, the Summer and Natalma Stakes. Those three winners, Starship Jubilee, Ontario-bred Gretzky the Great and Lady Speightspeare, are all on the list to head to the Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Keeneland, November 6 and 7.

Stakes races aside, there were plenty of nice moments at the Woodbine races last week.

SUE ANDRUSHKO got her first win of the Woodbine meeting and first win at Woodbine as an owner when TWOMANYSHOTS flew to a maiden win for $14,000 claiming on Sept. 17 at 11 to 1. The Not Bourbon filly was bred by Roger Attfield and was recently purchased by Andrushko.

MATT and SHERRY VANDEN BERG celebrated their first win of 2020 with GIANT ATTRACTION, a recent claim by Giant Gizmo. The 4-year-old won his maiden on Sept. 18.

ABRAHAM KATYRAN sent out his first winner of the year when TARA DAWN won a $25,000 maiden race on Sept. 17 for Vinodh Beharry and Racing Canada. The Bear’s Kid filly was bought at the local sale for about $5,000 and she has earned over $130,000.

*The Grade 3 CANADIAN DERBY will be run for the 91st time on Sept. 27 at Century Mile. The $100,000 race is at 1 1/4 miles and among the contenders for the race is MONGOLIAN WIND (Mucho Macho Man – Heckuva Good Time by Afternoon Deelites). The gelding has won 3 of 4 starts for owner Andy Stronach and Mongolian Stables including the Manitoba Derby and the Gold Cup Stakes, the latter over older horses. Trained by Wade Eno, Mongolian Wind was brought to Canada following his maiden win in June at Los Alamitos.

Another contender for the Canadian Derby is Russ and Lois Bennett’s SYNERGY, winner of the Winston Churchill Stakes at Hastings Racecourse and unbeaten in 3 starts in 2020. The son of Sungold – Princesses Rule by Finality is a homebred trained by Barbara Heads.

HASTINGS RACECOURSE

Sunday September 20, 2020- Day 22 recap (courtesy Derby Bar & Grill newsletter)

Highlights

Jockey Efrain Hernandez wins four.
Jockey Amadeo Perez gets a triple.
Trainer Mark Cloutier scores a hat trick.
Trainer Glen Todd and Owner North American Thoroughbred Horse Company each win a pair.
Mr. & Mrs. David Pihl have a breeding double.
Bakken sired two of today’s winners.
BC-breds win 6 out of 9 races.
The Mutuel handle was $433,585.

Miss Earl Beats the Boys

The first on the program, an open maiden optional allowance was won in gate-to-wire front-running fashion by the only filly in the race, Elaine Holgate’s lightly raced chestnut three-year-old Miss Earl (5.90, 3.20).

Breaking on top, rider Alexander Marti produced sufficient early speed to allow Miss Earl to cross over in front of the 4/5 favourite He’s Relentless. Once establishing the lead, Marti took hold of Miss Earl and slowed the pace down to a pedestrian opening quarter of 23.44 and a leisurely 47.36 half with He’s Relentless on the outside. From the quarter pole home, it was it was a two-horse race which saw Miss Earl courageously holding off the well-named He’s Relentless by a short and diminishing head at the wire.

Miss Earl is conditioned by the capable Keith Pedersen, who scored his third training victory within the last 24 hours. Miss Earl is by Bakken out of My Special Angel by Finality and was bred in Beautiful British Columbia by Sharon and Mark Johnson. The winning groom is Kim Eftok.

Chef Finds the Winning Recipe

Start with a slow beginning, simmer along at a leisurely pace, add in three parts rail, then turn up the heat and finally mix in a mad dash down the home stretch and there you have it, a perfect, baked-to-perfection winner’s circle.

The second on the card, an open 4K/5K claimer, went to Marty Miller’s good-looking eight-year-old bay gelding Chef (8.90, 3.60, 2.30) in a last to first come from behind performance. Leading rider Amadeo Perez had Chef well back in the early going and began to pick up steam approaching the far turn for the final time and from there motored on to a two-length margin of victory over Square Dancer, who while running gamely every step of the way was forced wide on the last turn, otherwise the finish would likely have been a lot closer.

Trained by Mark Cloutier, who also doubles as his barn’s main exercise rider, Chef is by Congrats out of Irish Dixie by Giant’s Causeway and was bred in Kentucky by KatieRich Farms. Chef, who won for the third time this season, is groomed by Mark and Toni Cloutier’s daughter Stevie Cloutier.

The winning time for the 1 1/16 was a very rapid 1:45.20.

The third race on the card, an allowance for 3-and 4-year-olds who have not won 3 lifetime, was taken down by Century Plaza Stable’s courageous hard-running three-year-old chestnut gelding with a great face, Home Run Guy (13.40, 7.60, 8.80).

Efrain Hernandez took advantage of the rail and a quick break putting Home Run Guy right on the lead, although only a head in front of the even money favourite Cascade Billy, who joined right alongside. From there the pair fought it out heads apart, carving out speedy fractions of 22.05, 45.13, and 1:10.43 until the top of the lane, where Cascade Billy began to weaken and drop back, leaving the lead to Home Run Guy, who was able to hold off the charging Ranger Up to claim the victory by a half-length at the finish.

Home Run Guy is conditioned by long-time veteran trainer Carl Lausten and groomed by his partner, the very capable Gabriele Mathussek. Home Run Guy is by Bakken out of Notis Her by Stephanotis and was bred in Super Fabulous British Columbia by Charles Harris and Patricia Marini, the owners of the ultra-consistent Aditya.

The final time for the 6 ½ furlongs was a decent 1:17.77 (triple lucky sevens).

Dancin Shoes Kicks Up Her Heels

The beautiful gray, Dancin Shoes, showed her other dance partners who was going to lead tonight.

Straight out of the box she went to the front and kept her mind on business, not distracted by the Foxy Brunette who attended her closely. Dancin Shoes stayed with that rival down the backstretch and through the final turn before really showing her best moves in the stretch, drawing away to win by three-and-three-quarter lengths under the careful handling of leading jockey Amadeo Perez.

Dancin Shoes is the four-year-old daughter of Cross Traffic and Andtheliviniseasy by Gone West and was bred in Beautiful British Columbia by her owners David and Delaurlyn Pihl.

Dancin Shoes is trained by the super sharp Mark Cloutier and is groomed by Mark’s wife Toni Cloutier, who certainly had the filly looking glamorous today.

Dancin Shoes was a popular partner at the mutuels, returning 4.30, 3.30, and 3.00 across the board.

The time of the race was a solid 1:17.29, the fastest sprint on the card.

Sanawar Awarded Top Prize

Sanawar who finished a fast closing second to Mustachio was moved to the top of the podium through a judge’s decision. Mustachio was found guilty of interfering with Molesley approaching the first turn and was demoted to fifth place.

Sanawar, unhurried away from the gate, dropped back into a position where he and rider Amadeo Perez could carefully observe all of the field and jointly plan their next move. On the far turn Sanawar moved sharply from along the rail and maintained that momentum into the lane. Down the stretch he closed quickly and finished very close to the top spot.

Sanawar is owned by R. N. H. Stable (think Edmonton Oilers) and is conditioned by the veteran trainer Barb Heads, who is assisted by Madison Zielke. Alyssia Dirkson as groom was responsible for his handsome look this afternoon.

The striking seven-year-old chestnut gelding is by Plan out of Beauseant by Tapit. Sanawar was bred in Super Wonderful British Columbia by Salishan Meadows.

Sanawar returned 8.80, 4.40, and 2.70 across the board.

The time of the race was 1:46.15.

Northern Graystar Shows the Way Home

Once again, the magnificent Northern Graystar shone brightly in the sixth, an allowance feature race for fillies and mares.

Northern Graystar was away well, and immediately took the lead, controlling the pace through the first and second turns and down the back stretch. Into the final turn, she was able to maintain her advantage and comfortably widen the margin of victory in the final stages under the confident handling of Efrain Hernandez.

The runner up was Solarity, who was very brave and ran like she didn’t want to lose but certainly couldn’t outshine Northern Graystar, even though it was a sunny afternoon.

Northern Graystar’s conditioning is the responsibility of the productive leading trainer Glen Todd. The leading owner North American Thoroughbred Horse Company campaigns Northern Graystar. The winning groom is Sherri Smith.

Northern Graystar is a four-year-old filly who is the daughter of Graydar and Fancy Vintage by Hennessy. She was bred in Tremendous British Columbia by Mr. and Mrs. David Pihl for their second breeding victory on the card.

As a popular pick, she paid 5.90, 3.10, and 2.20 across the board.

The time of the mile and a sixteenth was a rapid 1:44.86, the fastest route of the day.

Lizzies Girl is Golden

She’s a bay, actually, but ran on like a precious metal in the second race on the card, a maiden 4K/5K claimer for the girls, taking home for her connections the lion’s share of the purse.

Silvino Morales breaking from the nine post got Lizzies Girl off and running early clearly looking for an upfront position heading into the first turn, but unfortunately the four riders and horses to her inside all had the same plan. The result was a 5-wide around the turn trip for Lizzies Girl, only to be followed up by a 3-path for final turn voyage. Throughout it all, Lizzies Girl never stopped moving forward, collaring the leading Alafair (28 to 1) at the head of the lane and extending her margin of victory by two lengths over the fast closing Wild Woman (14 to 1). The 7/2 second choice Lizzies Girl, combined with longshots Wild Woman and Alafair produced a fantastic $2 triactor payout of $2,026. Those astute enough to add the 6/5 favourite La Belle Fleur in the 4th position were rewarded with a $1 superfecta in the amount of $6,125.05.

Lizzies Girl’s shining coat today was supplied courtesy of her conditioner, trainer Tara Neigel and her groom Sabrina McDonald. She is a three-year-old by Paynter out of Officer Big Red by Officer and was bred in Kentucky by Connie & Richard Snyder.

Lizzies Girl (9.00, 6.00, 4.80) is owned by D & E Racing, who locked down their first win of the year after numerous second place finishes this season with the stable’s other runners.

Boundary Bay Holds Them at Bay

The penultimate contest of the evening, a 6,250/8K claiming event, was won easily with energy to spare by North American Thoroughbred Horse Company’s five-year-old classy gelding Boundary Bay (6.30, 4.40, 2.90).

Facing speed to the inside, Efrain Hernandez was able to get Boundary Bay well enough away from the gate to cross over from his 7 post and lap onto the leading Ring of Kerry. After rattling off fractions of 22.08 and 45.61 with Boundary Bay breathing down his neck the whole way, Ring of Kerry by the head of the lane wanted no more and decided a retreat was in order, leaving sole occupancy of the lead to the hard running Boundary Bay. From there to the wire it was just a matter of keeping distance on the fast closing trio of Zetamarie, Bills Smokn Bullet and Sargent Rick to seal the deal and the winner’s circle for the third time in 2020 by a comfortable two lengths.

While Boundary Bay as the favourite produced pedestrian straight pool payoffs, the addition of the longshot filly Zetamarie (31 to 1) in the second place yielded very decent 131.30 exactor, 675.50 triactor and 1,453.70 superfecta payouts.

Boundary Bay is conditioned by leading trainer Glen Todd, who registered his second victory on the card, while for rider Efrain Hernandez it was his third winner of the day. The winning groom is Julio Lopez.

Boundary Bay is by Harbor the Gold out of Flying Memo by Memo and was bred in Washington by Bret Christopherson.

The winner was claimed for $6,250 following a two-way shake by Willow Creek Farms, whose trainer is Steve Henson.

The running time for the 6 ½ furlongs was a decent 1:17.87.

Ombre’ Rose Fights it Out

The 9th and final event of the day, a maiden 4K/5K claimer for fillies and mares, went in the direction of Roy and Dixie Jacobson’s homebred three-year-old dark bay filly Ombre’ Rose (18.30, 4.70, 4.00).

Perhaps named after the timeless classy fragrance or maybe named for something or someone altogether different, one thing for sure today was that Ombre’ Rose is a game, hard-trying filly. After getting his mount out of the gate on top, Efrain Hernandez was forced out 3-wide into the first turn by the speed on his inside eventually taking up a two-horse battle with the 3/2 betting favourite Day Pass. The two fillies fought it out side by side down the backstretch and around the final turn, although by the head of the lane Ombre’ Rose began to slowly slip away, extending her margin of victory over Day Pass to a clear length by the wire.

Ombre’ Rose’s win gave her rider Efrain Hernandez his fourth victory on the card and provided trainer Mark Cloutier with a hat trick and sole possession of second place in the trainer standings only one back of the leader Glen Todd.

Ombre’ Rose is by Storm Victory out of Miss Rose Parade by Quiet Cash and was bred and raised in Supernatural British Columbia by her owners Roy and Dixie Jacobson.

The winning groom is Bismark Sylva.

Leaders

After 22 days of racing, the Leader Board looks like this:

Owners:

North American Thoroughbred Horse Company continues in the lead with 15 victories. Tod Mountain Thoroughbreds is in second place with 10 wins and in third position are Rob and Sheena Maybin with 7 scores, followed by Russell J. and Lois Bennett, who have had 6 trips to the winner’s circle.

Jockeys:

Amadeo Perez is in first place with 42 trips to the winner’s circle. Scott Williams continues in second place with 30 wins, and Efrain Hernandez is in third with 27 victories.

Trainers:

Glen Todd is in first place with 16 victories. Mark Cloutier’s three wins today moved him into second place with 15 scores, one ahead of Barbara Heads, who is in third place with 14 wins, followed by Christine Ammann, who has 13 scores.